terre des hommes appeals to the Ministry of Economic Affairs: EU rules on arms exports must be strengthened with the new federal law
Osnabrück, December 1, 2022 – At a recent hearing of experts from civil society and industry on the planned arms export control law, the children's rights organization terre des hommes called on the German government to enshrine the protection of children in the law and to create a right for associations to bring legal action. terre des hommes has published a statement on the key points of the law.
“We welcome the fact that the arms export control law is finally intended to transpose binding EU regulations from the Common Position on arms exports into national law, thereby strengthening them. These include eight criteria that lead to the rejection of export applications, such as the human rights situation or armed conflicts in the recipient country,” said Ralf Willinger of terre des hommes at the expert hearing of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. “The law must prohibit arms exports if children’s rights are severely violated in the recipient country. According to the UN Security Council, this includes the killing, injury, and abduction of children, their recruitment as soldiers, sexual violence, and attacks on hospitals and schools.”
Together with other actors from civil society, churches, and academia terre des hommes is calling for the legal anchoring of the right of associations to bring legal action: "Just as important as the law itself is its strict implementation. Comprehensive transparency, monitoring, and sanction mechanisms are essential for this – especially the right of associations to bring legal action, which is already established practice in many neighboring European countries regarding arms exports," Willinger continued. "Without this right, the law would be a toothless tiger. So far, the Ministry has rejected the integration of the right of associations to bring legal action; pressure from the Bundestag and the public is now crucial."
terre des hommes and its partners have demonstrated in several studies that many children in war zones die from German weapons or are forced to fight as child soldiers. For example, in the Yemen war, where numerous children are abused as soldiers, at least 3,550 children were killed by the Saudi-led military coalition, according to UN figures, primarily through aerial bombing. Rheinmetall bombs, Tornado and Eurofighter fighter jets, and Heckler & Koch assault rifles were used in these attacks.
terre des hommes Germany was founded in 1967 to rescue children injured in the Vietnam War. Since then, the children's rights organization has supported projects for children and young people in war zones, currently in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Sudan, Colombia, Brazil, Myanmar, India, and the Philippines.
More information:
- terre des hommes statement on the key points of the arms export control law in full www.tdh.de/stellungnahme
- Study: Small arms in small hands – German arms exports violate children's rights www.tdh.de/ki-studie